General Care Discussion :: New RES is looking good now!

[khobbs]

Well, our 2 res now have a new cousin! I was walking through the parking lot on campus today, and there sat this tiny little turtle, with the red ears and all. There's not a pond around so I'm pretty curious as to why an aquatic turtle was on campus. I didn't this that res were native to Tn, but I found a website today that proved me wrong. I didn't want to leave him, or her, there to get stepped on or ran over, and since there was no water around, I thought the best thing would be to provide a very safe environment for it. Me and my friends from school decided to name "it" Munchie. It's only about the size of a half dollar and is VERY active. I am going to let my sister raise this one because she has wanted one, so I am teaching her everything that I know. It appears to be rather healthy and the shell looks wonderful. I was sooo ecxited to find this new baby, all of my friends were laughing at me. I will post some pics asap. Just thought I would share the new addition to the family with you guys!

[Andrew7769]

YAY! the only turtle that lives round me are paited turtles i hope to find a baby someday cool cant wait to c the pics

[khobbs]

well we got him set up, with a tank and everything, he just doesn't have all the lighting that he needs yet, but we are able to take him out into the sun for a while during the day. the temp of the water and everything is right, but he looks really dehydrated and looks like he could gain a little weight, and he keeps rubbing his eyes, alot. we used a dechlorinator in his water so that the chlorine wouldn't bother his eyes, but now i don't know what it is? his eyes don't looked puffy or anything. anyone have any ideas?

[marisa]

Congrats on the new addition.

[khobbs]

well, i'm not sure how things are going with the new addition... he seems to want to stay on his basking area the whole time. i don't know if he wore himself out and he's just tired, or if there is something wrong. my mom said that she went in there tonight and looked at him and he was just laying there with his head to the side. i'm afraid he won't make it, but i'm hoping that he does. please remember us. i know we just got him, but still, everyone has become attached already, and he's just a baby. i hope things turn around and he gets better.

[marisa]

What temps are you keeping him at? There is no white covering at all on the eyes? If he appears dehydrated to you, you could get some Pedialyte (think that's the spelling) and put him in that for a while. It will provide him with electrolytes when he drinks it that will help with the dehydration.

How warm is it when you take him outside? It would be better not to take him out if there are breezes/drafts. I'd keep him warm and concentrate on trying to get him hydrated.

[khobbs]

Well, i had my mom increase the temps on the basking area and in the water to help boost his immune in case he was sick. the basking is about 90-92 and the water about 80-82. There were no breezes or drafts or anything. It was nice and it was about 80 degrees out, maybe a little warmer, because it was REALLY hot. There is no white covering the eyes. He is a bit more active today than he was last night. My mom took him outside again for a little while today and she said he was crawling all over the place. He's swimming a little more and she said he doesn't look as dehydrated as he did. Do you think that he could have just been wore out from being introduced into his new environment, and from acting crazy while checking it out? I was glad to hear that he was doing better today. She also said that his eyes don't look as puffy as they did this morning, although they weren't exactly that puffy. But over all, she said he seems to be quite a bit better, which is good to hear.

[marisa]

Yes, that is good news. Don't know if his problems are being caused by his new environment. He could have been ill when you found him and symptoms began showing up after you put him in his new tank. I'd keep a close eye on him.

Will he eat anything? Try a cut up earthworm. Most turtles find a wriggling piece of food hard to resist.

[khobbs]

How small do I need to cut it up? He ate some pellets at first, but then he stopped. My mom said the he had one in his mouth yesterday but then he spit it back out. We are keeping a very close eye on him. We want him to live a long time.

[steve]

Have you tried other foods besides the pellets?

[khobbs]

Not yet, we need to make a run to the store first.

what other kinds of food do you mean? like veggies or what?

[steve]

The live earthworm Marisa suggested, also tuna fish, blood worms or shrimp treats.

[marisa]

Cut the worm up into 1/4 - 1/2 size pieces. He should be attracted to the movement. If you go to Petsmart, look for bloodworms in the frozen food section by Hikari. They're clean and have added nutrients to them. Every hatchling I've given them to has liked them. (They come in cubes---cut the cube up into smaller pieces.)

[khobbs]

well things are looking even better for munchie. today we got him to eat some pellets, and it is really funny. he has a floating log for his basking area, so he will crawl along the log at the edge of the water and wait for the pellets to come to him, or see if any got stuck in the cracks along the way. he'll pick it up in his mouth, and then just get where his head is in the water so that he can swallow. i told my dad today that he looks like a little kid in a swimming pool holding on to the wall trying to reach out and get something floating by. it is pretty funny. he is just sooo cute and i think everyone in our family has gotten attached to him now. we are glad that he is doing much better, although his skin looks like it could still be a little dehydrated, but not near as bad as it did. or could it just be because he needs to gain a little weight?

[hannah.26]

Yea! That's great...I'm glad he's doing better!